Chapter 366

The Red Cloak Order has three knights, and there are units named after each of them, so it went without saying their fame was great.

But the Royal Guard couldn’t be made up of only three knights.

The true core of the Royal Guard was the Junior Knights, and their number exceeded twenty.

Of those, fewer than five Junior Knights remained in the capital.

There were roughly fifty Squires, but fewer than ten remained in the capital.

That was Aisia’s explanation.

“Well, there are a few people whose skills are at the Junior Knight level. The Royal Guard Commander is also from the Royal Guard, and there are the famous twins who serve as the Marquis of Okto’s bodyguards.”

“Those two were twins?”

Encrid asked in the middle of the story.

“You said you met the Marquis of Okto, right? Oh, fraternal twins. They don’t look alike, do they? I was surprised when I heard they were twins.”

Aisia was easygoing. That was how Andrew saw it.

Even though it split at the ends, her orange hair seemed to emphasize her liveliness.

Easygoing and lively—like a farm girl who’d grown up without worries.

That was what he thought.

In terms of looks, Esther the Mage or Kin Vaisar stood out more, but in terms of charm, Aisia the Junior Knight seemed to have given plenty of men a fever.

‘With that kind of face and that kind of cheer.’

It was hard not to find her attractive.

And she was friendly without caring about distance. The word “unreserved” came to mind at once.

She simply joined the table, eating and drinking as if she’d been here yesterday.

“Pass me that bread.”

The strange part was that Rem and the others treated it as nothing.

A Junior Knight of the Red Cloak Order, no less.

Andrew found it hard to adjust at first, but he soon gave up on taking anything seriously.

‘I don’t know anymore.’

Once you got involved with Encrid, everything started flowing in ways that made no sense.

It was no different from the first time he’d gone on a mission with the Captain.

Even then, he’d only done unbelievable things.

‘He acted like he knew every enemy position hidden in some bush.’

Then he set fire to the barracks and fought, and only after they ran did Andrew realize it: this guy was different.

Now the scale was bigger and his position higher, but nothing had changed. Andrew decided to accept it that way.

“Here.”

Aisia casually cut a round loaf of bread and tossed it. Rem snatched it out of the air, spread marmalade on it, and chewed.

Ragna sliced the cured ham, then tore away the rough edges of the bread and ate only the soft inside.

“You picky eater.”

Rem muttered when he saw that.

“If you’re so eager to get hit because you watched that woman fight, wait until we’re done eating, you wild animal.”

Ragna shot back without a change in expression.

“Not ‘that woman’. My name is Aisia.”

Aisia lifted a hand and cut in.

“Ah, right. Aisia.”

Ragna, too, naturally dropped the honorifics. Aisia also thanked Andrew, the owner of the mansion, for having her.

Of course, she never once used the word “invite.”

She had barged in, sparred, and eaten.

Andrew replied, “You’re welcome,” without making things awkward.

“That one’s my type.”

Aisia said, pointing at Jaxson.

“Most women say that, but don’t be fooled. He doesn’t meet just one or two.”

Rem added.

“They’re all friends.”

Rarely, Jaxson answered gently. Aisia figured he must have plenty of women around him.

Just because he was her type didn’t mean she fell for him on the spot.

Aisia looked at Encrid, chewing bread across from her.

No matter how many times she looked, he was a strange man.

“I don’t have many women I meet as friends either.”

Encrid said, catching her gaze.

“I didn’t ask.”

“Oh. Spar after we’re done?”

Aisia nodded on reflex.

“Digest first.”

She could use that time to sort out what she needed to do.

Aisia hadn’t come here to play.

“We decided to catch the Moonlight Beast.”

“You’ve already named it?”

“Because it only appears under moonlight.”

It wasn’t just idiots and fools gathered in the capital.

They had narrowed down its appearance, its area, and the time it appeared.

Encrid, listening, asked:

“Why did you leave it alone until now?”

Aisia had said there were five Junior Knights left.

There were also Squires and guards.

This was the capital of a country. Weren’t there people who could solve this?

Of course there were.

But they had missed it.

There were several reasons.

First, they underestimated the opponent.

Second, anyone outside the Royal Guard was reluctant to use their power.

“Everyone’s busy protecting their own safety. Well, I understand.”

Aisia said coolly, then added,

“One of the Squires was attacked. Badly injured. I don’t know if that friend will survive.”

If a Squire of the Royal Guard had been attacked, it proved the Moonlight Beast was dangerous.

“What about the priests?”

If he’d been attacked, why was the treatment lacking?

A Squire was someone recognized for talent and selected from hundreds—thousands.

A knight was a symbol of power.

And the Royal Guard was a group preparing to become knights.

Naturally, they were treated well. More than well.

Having a chef assigned was basic, and they could receive prayers from priests.

With divine power, even serious injuries could be healed. At the very least, they wouldn’t die.

“Right now, the priests who were in the capital have left their posts. And the Royal Palace’s exclusive priest can’t use divine power properly for other reasons.”

Encrid recalled the temples he’d seen in the capital.

There weren’t just one—there were several.

Naurilia didn’t persecute religion, so the capital had multiple temples.

Not as many as Legion, the holy city, but still plenty.

And none of those temples had a priest?

“To be exact, there are no priests who can use divine power. One of them was already attacked by the beast.”

When the Moonlight Beast first appeared, their response had been slow.

The creature had immediately targeted a priest who could wield divine power.

As a result, that priest was now barely clinging to life.

Some of the other priests who could use divine power had gone to the border.

“Divine power is precious, originally.”

The Royal Palace’s healer was doing everything they could.

There were also potions made through alchemy.

“He won’t die.”

Aisia said.

She said it so calmly it sounded like she held a deep grudge—no, the determination to catch it was simply obvious.

“We’ll catch it.”

Rem reinforced her words, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It made sense. This kind of hunt was familiar to him.

“Yeah, thanks. You said your name was Rem.”

Encrid was curious about Aisia.

Was she always this friendly?

Before, they’d never had the time—or the situation—to talk properly, so he hadn’t known.

Even then, he hadn’t had a bad impression.

“It’s cloudy again today.”

Jaxson said in his usual indifferent tone. And he was right.

The moon wouldn’t rise tonight either.

And more importantly, it didn’t necessarily appear just because the moon rose.

Why?

No one knew. But it was something to think about. If you thought, you could form a hypothesis.

“Anyway, one of the Junior Knights chased it after it killed a Squire and fled, but he lost it. That means it’s incredibly fast. I don’t think we can catch it by chasing from behind like before.”

“Is there a reason the Royal Guard didn’t step in?”

Encrid, having roughly finished his meal, cleared away the leftovers. A maid brought him tea.

Aisia split an apricot in half and put it in her mouth, then frowned.

Too sour.

“What do you think?”

He didn’t need to ask twice. It was because of the situation in the Royal Palace.

“We serve the Queen.”

Guarding the Queen wasn’t something entrusted to the Royal Guard alone. It was about protecting the throne itself.

“Then what about you?”

“With the Marquis’s power, he could easily divert a few Junior Knights. They say he’s raised so many snakes in his belly they call him the Hydra’s intestines—that man.”

At those words, Andrew flicked his gaze.

See? Everyone calls him that.

That was what the gesture meant.

Encrid gave a vague nod.

At a glance, the Marquis wasn’t the type to reveal his true feelings easily.

So what if he didn’t?

What mattered was that the Moonlight Beast was connected to the Black Sword, and they needed to find the leader of the Black Sword.

‘Because he’s Jaxson’s enemy.’

Whether Jaxson caught him and killed him, tortured him, or turned him into jerky—that was Jaxson’s business.

But Jaxson would be determined to find him.

He was a member of his unit. Jaxson hadn’t said it outright, but it felt like a favor being asked.

That was the first reason to catch and destroy the Moonlight Beast.

The second was for the people being harmed.

The third was the Marquis’s request.

Encrid didn’t care whether the opponent was the Hydra’s intestines or a water snake’s genitals.

“So you have time until tomorrow?”

Encrid asked.

At the very least, she could stand by when the moon rose.

Unless the clouds suddenly cleared in the middle of the night, there wasn’t much Aisia could do.

“Yeah.”

“Then?”

“Let’s do more.”

Aisia’s eyes blazed as she spoke.

Encrid wanted to see her sword again.

“I want to fight you guys too.”

The fire in Aisia’s eyes flared even brighter. If Sinar saw it, she would probably want to douse it immediately.

Rem and Ragna responded to that heat.

“Good.”

“Anytime.”

Neither of them was the type to avoid it.

“Please exclude me.”

Jaxson shook his head.

“I’ll join too.”

Meanwhile, Dunbakel joined in, her voice lower than usual.

“Great!”

Aisia shouted cheerfully and headed outside.

They went straight into sparring.

Everyone moved. Andrew joined them as well.

The five trainees were busy rolling around off to one side, but once the sparring started, they were busy watching instead.

Even Mac made time to watch.

A spar between Junior Knights—missing it would be a loss.

Of course, watching wouldn’t instantly make you stronger.

But if you watched, you could experience the results of your imagination in advance. That was a huge difference.

In that sense, it was good luck for them.

Encrid took everything seriously.

Aisia, more excited than ever, sparred, ate, drank, and even took over a room in the mansion.

The sky grew heavier, and eventually it rained.

For the time being, it seemed impossible to see moonlight at all.

In the meantime, Encrid learned—and learned again.

“Hey, are all Junior Knights the same? Are all knights the same? Were mercenaries the same? Want me to tell you about Naurilia’s soldier ranking system? Were all lower-ranking soldiers the same?”

No. They were different.

Even among lower- and mid-ranking soldiers, there were clear differences in skill. The higher you went, the clearer the gap became.

“When it comes to Junior Knights, the difference can be pretty big. And I’m about in the middle.”

She had been recognized for talent, but her skill level was average.

“Among the Junior Knights, there are some who are clumsy, but can trade a few moves with a knight.”

Aisia’s eyes sparkled as she spoke, as if she meant to keep pushing forward without stopping.

“Yeah. I didn’t know.”

It had been too far and too high to see.

Only after climbing did the differences become visible.

To Andrew, Aisia, Encrid, Rem, and Ragna all looked like the same kind of monster.

During sparring, Aisia never beat Rem or Ragna.

And when Rem and Ragna fought, Rem never beat Ragna.

And Encrid—

“Is it right to stick to the Proper Sword Style to break the Illusion Sword?”

He was defeated by Aisia again and again.

Encrid judged it would be hard to beat her in sparring.

‘Illusion Sword.’

He knew what kind of technique she used, and through contemplation and review he had grasped the method behind it.

It planted illusions and blocked the opponent’s vision. It distorted distance. It carried speed.

No—it didn’t just carry speed.

Before, when he’d aimed for that, he’d been struck by the Flowing Sword.

Inside the Illusion Sword, a sword was hidden that could strike from anywhere.

The sword itself was deception.

It was the sight of someone who had properly mastered the Illusion Sword and was using it as a weapon.

Encrid smiled as he watched. The harder it was, the more motivated he became. That was a key part of the man called Encrid.

It rained for four days.

Contemplation. Review.

Sparring. Training.

When the four days passed, the weather cleared bright and clean.

They sparred while rolling in the mud, washed up, and talked.

While discussing how to catch the Moonlight Beast, Aisia became friends with everyone before they realized it.

“Wow, a Mage? That’s amazing.”

She didn’t even end up awkward with Esther.

“Is this your horse? Why are your eyes like that? Hey, can you understand me?”

She even befriended Odd Eyes.

It wasn’t just friendliness—it seemed like it was her specialty.

Now and then, Encrid caught bits of her stories.

“I’m from a commoner background—nothing special. I picked up a sword when I was young, and I realized I had talent.”

“There’s one more thing I want besides becoming a knight.”

“It’s not something I tell people. But I’m telling you all sorts of things. You’re a bit strange. You have a talent for making people lower their guard.”

On the fourth day, late afternoon, just before sunset—

“There will be a full moon.”

Jaxson said.

It was the sky before sunset. Encrid lifted his head in the training ground and saw it: a clear, high sky without a single cloud.

Jaxson was right. Even before the sun had set, the moon was faintly visible.

A perfect, round full moon.